philosophy exam 4

Question 1

What makes something a person or a self?

Answer 1

A person or self is typically considered to have consciousness, identity over time, and certain psychological or physical attributes.

Question 2

What is the problem of personal identity over time?

Answer 2

It concerns what makes a person at one time the same person as they are at another time, despite changes.

Question 3

What makes up a person’s character?

Answer 3

Character consists of the psychological traits,memories, and behaviors that shape how a person is identified over time.

Question 4

What is the Soul Theory?

Answer 4

The Soul Theory suggests that personal identity is based on the continued existence of the same soul over time.

Question 5

What is the Psychological theory of Personal Identity?

Answer 5

The Psychological Theory posits that identity is based on psychological continuity, such as memory, thoughts, and personality over time.

Question 6

What is the Physical theory of Personal Identity

Answer 6

The Physical Theory holds that identity is based on the continuity of the same body or brain over time.

Question 7

What is Locke’s argument for the memory theory?

Answer 7

Locke argues that if person A wake up in the prince’s body and remembers the life of the cobbler, they are the same person as the cobbler.

Question 8

What if Reid’s challenge to Locke’s memory theory?

Answer 8

Reid points out that memory alone doesn’t ensure personal identity, citing cases like a boy becoming an officer and then a general.

Question 9

What is the Psychological Continuity Theory?

Answer 9

This theory suggests that personal identity is not based on a direct memory connection but rather on overlapping chains of psychological continuity.

Question 10

What is Williams’s Case 1 (ET Process)?

Answer 10

In this case, two people’s mental content is swapped through an extraction/transfer process. The person with B’s body and A’s mental content should choose who gets the 1,000,000, according to common intuition.

Question 11

What is Williams’s Case 2 (ET Process)?

Answer 11

Here, a person’s memory is wiped before torture, and their mental content is replaced. Despite the memory wipe, people still fear the torture, suggesting a conflict in intuition.

Question 12

What does Williams conclude about these cases?

Answer 12

Williams concludes that our intuitions about personal identity are inconsistent and unreliable insuch cases.

Question 13

What is the Buddhist “no-self” doctrine?

Answer 13

Buddhism teaches that there is no permanent, unchanging self (anatta), and the belief in a permanent self is a cause of suffering.

Question 14

How does the “no-self” view fit with reincarnation?

Answer 14

The Buddhist view suggests that there is no permanent self passing between lives, but rather a causal continuity from one life to the next.

Question 15

What is the Chariot analogy?

Answer 15

The chariot analogy suggests that a self is like a chariot a collection of parts or processes, but not a thing beyond those parts.

Question 16

What is gradual uploading?

Answer 16

Gradual uploading involves replacing neurons with nanobots over time, preserving continuity without instant replacement

Question 17

What is non- gradual uploading?

Answer 17

Non- gradual uploading involves an instantaneous replacement of the brain, leading to questionsabout whether the person still exists afterward.

Question 18

How does the Bhavith case challenge the physical-continuity theory?

Answer 18

The Bhavith case shows that if an android is created based on his brain scan but the original Bhavith remains intact, personal identity doesn’t depend on physical continuity.

Question 19

What does Parfit conclude about identity in uploading scenarios?

Answer 19

Parfit concludes that identity doesn’t matter as much as psychological continuity or the preservation of relevant characteristics in future persons.

Question 20

What is the split-brain procedure?

Answer 20

The split-brain procedure involves serving the corpus callosum, leading to two hemispheres of the brain functioning independently.

Question 21

What is the Unity Puzzle?

Answer 21

The Unity Puzzle asks how we can say a split-brain patient is a single person when each hemisphere has distinct thoughts and experiences.

Question 22

How do Bayne, Nagel, and Schechter solve the unity puzzle?

Answer 22

Bayne: Suggests the consciousness switches a quickly between the two hemispheres.
Nagel: Argues the number of minds in a split- brain patient is indeterminate.
Schechter: Suggests there are two minds, but the self- consciousness is unified

Question 23

What is the narrative theory of self- identity?

Answer 23

The narrative theory holds that self- identity is formed by a continuous personal story or narrative, constructed by the individual.

Question 24

How does the case of Mr. Oreo challenge the narrative theory?

Answer 24

Mr. Oreo, who identifies as white despite his pysical traits, shows with external perceptions and soical identity.

Question 25

What is Glen Strawsons’s view of the self

Answer 25

Strawson rejects the narrative theory, calling himself an “episodic” person, suggesting the most people don’t construct continuous self-narratives.

Question 26

How does Descartes claim we know our self exists?

Answer 26

Descartes argues that through introspection and doubts , we can be certain of our existence (“I think, therefore I am”).

Question 27

What does Hume say about self?

Answer 27

Hume argues that the self bundle of experiences and there is no permanent self that persists across time.

Question 28

What us the challenge of introspection for understanding the self?

Answer 28

Introspection may not reveal a unified “self,” as there are only thoughts and experiences but no underlying entity.

Question 29

What is transformative choice?

Answer 29

A transformative choice is one that alters a person’s preferences or viewpoint in ways that are unpredictable and cannot be fully understood beforehand.

Question 30

How does the pregnancy case illustrate transformative choices?

Answer 30

In the Pregnancy case, the person cannot fully predict how becoming a parent will change them. making the decision complex.